Why do so many people choose the same names?

[burnishedgold]

Don't get me wrong, Isabelle, Grace, George etc are all nice names, but it would totally take the shine of it for me if there were likely to be 2/3 kids with the same name in their group.

To be fair, I grew up with a super odd name which I have never lived, but it does surprise me that people choose names knowing there will be people in the same class with the same name. Maybe because I've never had that experience...but still seems odd, especially when there are lots of names which aren't unusual but which aren't everywhere

5more - when I lived in Spain my landlady was called Apollonia! (Not sure of spelling.) My Spanish flat mates had a little snigger at her old fashioned name.

My ds' name is in the top 10 and has been for years. I love it though and it has the added bonus of being a family name for both dh and I. Dd has a classic but not overused name, I've not met a little girl with the same name. I imagine that people think my children's names are boring but tbh I don't give a fig!

Sometimes popular in terms of national statistics aren't reflected locally though. Dd has a name in the top ten, in Primary school over the course of eight years there was only one other child with the same name as dd. In her huge secondary school it isn't a common name at all and there is only one other in her year group. Other names that were further down the lists are very common here so there are lots and lots of Jessicas and Chloes in her year when that isn't necessarily the case nationally.

Or compare to 1998

Chloe
2. Emily,
3. Megan,
4. Jessica
5. Sophie, var. Sophia,
6. Charlotte,
7. Hannah,
8. Lauren,
9. Rebecca,
10. Lucy

Definitely not as 'cutsie' as now.

I don't think these sound dated yet.

Or boys

Jack,
2. Thomas,
3. James,
4. Daniel,
5. Joshua,
6. Matthew
7. Samuel,
8. Callum,
9. Joseph,
10. Jordan, (I think Katie price has killed this off!)

I have 6 children will normal names but not massively common for when they were born.
I have an Emily who is 18 so wasn't that many around then,also have an Oliver who is 15 this year there are none in his friendship group and not many I know of around his age.